Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On the weekend I had the great privilege of opening the art exhibition for the painters of the Flinders Ranges at Wilpena Pound. This group has been operating since 2002, and it features nine highly-skilled artists: the chairman Graham Chapman, Don Gangell, Trevor Hancox, David Chalmers, John Simmons, Elizabeth Collins, Michael Carey, Lynette Chamberlain, Marion Sheidow, Patricia Houston and Roe Gartelmann.

As I remarked at the opening, the Flinders offers endless opportunities for artists—the stunning landscapes with softer, higher-rainfall forests in the southern Flinders through to the magnificent Wilpena Pound and to the incredibly rugged desert mountains of Arkaroola and the Gammon Ranges in the north; the beautiful creeks and waterholes and the unique light which changes by the hour and by the day. The Flinders have three histories: first a geological display which tracks the development of the Earth, the long and detailed Indigenous record and the graphic history of European settlement. All this is coupled with a wide and individual range of flora and fauna.

It is the work of these artists to capture a slice of all that and to recognise the simple beauty of something the rest of us may well walk past. They do that in this fabulous exhibition, which runs through to 2 October at the Wilpena Woolshed, an old pastoral shearing shed of great charm. If you're anywhere near, don't miss out—make sure you visit—it's too good to miss.

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